Irish Whole Wheat Potato Pull-Apart Rolls

Around St Patrick's day, when I was looking for something Irish to make, I came across the Whole Wheat Potato Bread in Beth Hensperger's Bread lover's bread machine cookbook. Apparently in the late eighteenth century, potatoes or spuds as they called them, became a staple in the Irish diet. One-third of the population then, solely relied on this cheap crop.  Lack of genetic diversity, left the crop vulnerable to diseases and in 1845, the rapid spread of a plant disease called late blight resulted in the crops failure in the poorer communities of western Ireland. That led to the Great Irish Famine, also known as the Irish Potato Famine, in which approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland. The Irish immigrants apparently brought the tubers to New England, a region were potatoes are grown even today.  

Now about these rolls... They are fairly easy to make and taste great with soup, curry, bhaji... you name it. I believe, the potato in the dough basically does what eggs generally do to the bread, make them soft and light. These rolls are much softer and less dense that most whole grain rolls. Again, I am inclined to believe that the mashed potato is the reason for it.... In any case they are a great addition to a meal and have recently become my go-to recipe for dinner rolls... 

Made these using the same recipe... For these I divided about ¾th of the dough into 18 small balls and baked them in a 9" cake pan  

Though the recipe came from the bread machine cookbook. For a couple of reasons, however, I chose to knead the dough by hand....

One. The book recommended using the whole wheat cycle, which has a shorter mixing and kneading time and yields a loaf. I did not want a loaf, I wanted dinner rolls. So no thanks. I rather knead by hand.

Two. It sometimes feels nice to punch and throw and knead the dough. On such occasions, the toddler too gets his prized play-dough which keeps him engaged for a while...   

Three. I love to multi-task. After my first shot with this recipe, I knew exactly what I wanted to do next time. Make dinner rolls with half the dough and stuffed muffin buns with the rest.... 

     Whole Wheat Potato Loaf  made with ¼ th of the dough                               Coconut Muffin Buns (recipe here)

And as you can see the plan worked beautifully !

Irish Whole Wheat Potato Pull-Apart Rolls

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Recipe adapted from The bread lover's bread machine cookbook

Prep time: 3 hours                                 Baking time: 45-50 minutes                          Total time: about 4 hours
Yield: 12 dinner rolls

Ingredients

• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 3 tbsps unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3 tbsps honey
• 2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup mashed potato
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1 ½ tsps salt
• 2 ½ tsps instant yeast
• 1 - 1½ tbsp oil + more for kneading and greasing the containers(optional)

Cooking Directions

1. Put all the ingredients in a big bowl and using your hands knead till you have a soft dough. I always find it easier to oil my hands well while kneading. Also the oil from the hand helps in kneading a soft smooth dough.
2. Once you have a smooth dough, place it in a well greased container, cover the container with a plastic cling wrap or kitchen towel and keep it in a warm corner of the kitchen. Let the dough rest and double its volume. This might take about 1½ hours or more. Keep a close watch.
3. Once it has double, turn it out on a lightly floured surface, punch it and deflate it. Then divide into 12 equal balls.
4. Shape the balls into round discs by pinching in the edges together and flattening them a bit. You can either make 12 whole wheat dinner rolls(as I had initially decided to do) or make a batch of 6 pull-apart rolls with half of the dough and make sweet breakfast muffins buns with the remaining half (as I finally ended up doing).
5. In case you decide to make dinner rolls alone, grease two 6-cup rectangular pyrex containers or a couple of baking dishes of equal capacity and place 6 balls of dough in each. Cover the containers with a plastic cling wrap or a kitchen towel and keep them in a warm corner of the kitchen. Let the dough double. This will probably take 45 minutes to an hour.
6. Meanwhile center the rack and preheat oven to 375 °F.
7. Once the dough has doubled bake them for 45-50 minutes, until they have turned golden brown.
8. Cool completely before pulling them apart and serving.

Yeastspotting these rolls.   Also sharing them at the following parties...

 Mix it up Monday, The Scoop, Made with love Monday,
Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, Recipe Sharing @ Jam Hands
Melt in your Mouth Monday, Inspiration Monday Party
Inspire Me Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Tuesday 
Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box,  Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations,
Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home ,  Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings
Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles,  Tasty Tuesday @ Anyonita Nibbles,
Hearth and Soul blog Hop @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen, In & Out of the Kitchen @ Feeding Big & More,
Tuesday's Table @ Love in the Kitchen, 

Wednesday 
What's Cooking Wednesday @ Buns in my Oven, Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain,
Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, Wine'd Down Wednesday,
Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ All She Cooks, Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Mom's Test Kitchen
Wednesday, Whatsit@White Lights on Wednesday, Wednesday Extravaganza @ Hunger Little Girl, 
Create & Share @ The Trendy Tree House, What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar & Dots Look, 
What I Made @ Creations by Kara

Thursday

Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, 
Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage , 
 Freedom Friday @ My Turn,  Thursday's Treasures @ Food Done Light,
Pin it Thursday @ Sweet Bella Roos

Friday 
Foodie Friday @ Simple Living and Eating,  Friday Linky Party @ The Pin Junkie, 
Get Him Feed @ Anyonita Nibbles,  Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home,
Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm,
Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts,
Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club, The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog Recipes